Video journalist Jason N. Parkinson with NUJ supporters outside the Royal Courts of Justice before the Dale Farm production order judicial review. © Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk

The NUJ and other media organisations have won the judicial review at the Court of Appeal following the decision by Chelmsford Crown Court to grant the Dale Farm footage production order. The decision to force journalists to hand over unbroadcast footage has been overturned.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary said: “Today is a huge victory for the cause of press freedom and the protection of sources and journalistic material. We are incredibly pleased that the NUJ and other media organisations have won the High Court battle against the police production order to force journalists to hand over their Dale Farm eviction footage.”

Jason Parkinson, who challenged the order said: “This ruling to overturn the Crown Court’s decision to grant the Dale Farm production order sends a very clear message to all police forces that these wide-ranging fishing trips will not be accepted by the UK courts and that we will not be forced into to role of unwilling agents of the state. We are not there as evidence gatherers to fill police intelligence databases with hours of material on activists or protestors, we are journalists and we are there to report the news and keep the public informed.

In the last 18 months, every time one of these orders has been served it has put journalists in greater danger while trying to report on public order situations. I know this because I have been threatened and assaulted by people claiming my material will be used by the police. I am very happy to see Judge Moses has recognised the impact these orders have on the safety and impartiality of all journalists and has made sure any future production order applications must take this into account, as was clearly not the case this time round.”

This victory would not have been possible without the support of the NUJ legal team and campaign department. Special thanks to our General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet for her support, Roy Mincoff from the NUJ legal department, Sarah Kavanagh and Frances Rafferty from the NUJ campaign department, Martin Rackstraw from Bindmans Solicitors, Gavin Millar QC and all our campaign supporters.

We should not underestimate the significant stress and energy that go in to challenging such production orders, especially for freelancers, whose reputation and safety is on the line. It is extremely important that the High Court has acknowledged and reinforced the independent role of frontline journalists and their safety in gathering the news for future public order situations.

Press Clippings:

Read Guardian, Independent, ITN, BBC, Press Gazette articles.

Meeting with NUJ, EPUK & G4S re photography at the Olympic Park

John Toner (NUJ), David Hoffman (EPUK), Adam Mynott (G4S)

Headland House May 10, 2012

Following the incident on 21 April 2012 where two G4S security staff assaulted me and other photographers working on public land outside the Olympic Park John Toner, NUJ Freelance Organiser arranged a meeting with Adam Mynott, G4S Director of Media Relations and me, David Hoffman, wearing my (white) EPUK Moderator hat.

The meeting started on a positive note with Mynott apologising for the actions of the guards who he described as having “behaved wrongly” and having “acted incorrectly”. We were particularly concerned by two comments that the guards’ supervisor made. She had said:

“We are told we should refrain people from taking photos” and “It his job to basically approach people and deter them from taking photographs of the secure area.”

Mynott told us that this was not how G4S trained their guards and, specifically, that “photography was not to be discouraged in any way at all” and it was NOT their job to approach and deter photographers He was quite clear that there should be no interference at all to photographers working on public land and that the guards had been reminded of this following the April incident.

Adam Mynott told us that they were recruiting 10,000 staff for the Olympics and that there was a structured training programme. No member of staff would have less than 4 days training and some would have up to 14 days. All their training was to SIA approved standards and the security guards were SIA accredited. We were assured that the training was running well, was on schedule and not being rushed.

Mynott told us that he was aware of the National Press Card and that his staff were trained on it and on how to recognise a UKPCA card. John Toner gave him some UKPCA posters to help in training.

We asked about the presence of guards on public land. Mynott assured us that the security guards should only operate within the Olympic Park border, that they should not have left the Olympic Park in the April incident and that they would be reminded of this.

I mentioned that Jason Parkinson had twice been stopped recently on the public road outside the Olympic Park by security guards in an SUV. Mynott could not adequately explain that and we will be following this up as it directly contradicts the assurances we had been given.

We asked if G4S could provide a map showing what land was public and what was the Olympic Park. He will try to arrange that.

We were particularly keen to have a 24/7 hotline direct to G4S senior management as a way of resolving problems, rather than having to resort to the police. Adam Mynott suggested we use his mobile number (this will be available on the members’ area of this site).

It was a friendly and constructive meeting and we got the impression that G4S do genuinely understand the issues and want to avoid making difficulties for us. Whether they are capable of training their 10,000 staff to a standard sufficient to achieve that is yet to be seen.

The May meeting of the London Photographers’ Branch will be Olympic Concerns: Preparing Photographers for London 2012, a discussion and debate with Bindmans Lawyer Chez Cotton.

The May meeting of the London Photographers’ Branch will be Olympic Concerns: Preparing Photographers for London 2012, a discussion and debate with Bindmans Lawyer Chez Cotton. Read the rest of this article »

This year’s NUJ Delegate Meeting is to be held in Newcastle, starting on 5 October and will last two days.

In preparation at the next London Photographers’ branch meeting, 6pm, Tuesday 29 May at Headland House, we will be taking nominations and voting on the delegates that will represent LPB. The DM nominations deadline is Friday 1 June and LPB has been allocated two delegates.

We will also be taking nominations on the DM-elected bodies.

Olympic security guards try to prevent photographers and video journalists from filming the Olympic site from the public highway. East London.

Last week at an NUJ organised meeting with senior police several experienced photographers (I was one) asked Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison (in charge of Olympic policing) & Cdr Bob Broadhurst about the private security guards’ training and instructions. We said that on the past record of private security guards we could expect unlawful and oppressive interference.

Allison assured us that the security would ONLY be acting inside the site and that we’d have no problems on public land outside. He may have believed that. We didn’t and thought that we should check out the accuracy of his promises. There were other issues (such as closures of public rights of way) that also seemed worth coverage.

Before we’d got half way round the site – all on public land – G4S security had run out from the site, shouting at me and grabbing the camera of a colleague (Jess Hurd), pushing her back and preventing her from taking photos. A second guard also appeared and assaulted a video journalist colleague, Jason Parkinson, grabbing his camera and pushing him around.

See Guardian video here

Their manager appeared after a minute or two. She defended their behaviour and told us that they were trained to deter people from taking photographs. We asked for police to attend and two SO23 officers soon arrived, confirmed that our behaviour was entirely lawful and the G4S guards retreated back into the Olympic site.

The guards are very poorly trained by G4s, on rotten terms of temporary employment and receiving the minimum wage. The blame should be on G4S and LOCOG whose penny pinching attitude and contempt for the media is already causing us problems and is certain to cause us a great deal more unless we take a stand.

© David Hoffman

David Hoffman images here

Jess Hurd images here

Other links:

I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist

Put your camera away: security guards offer glimpse of Olympic enforcers

Olympic Park Security Guards Forcibly Stop Journalists form taking photos (Guardian)

Press Freedom at the Beijing Olympics (Guardian)

O2 Olympic venue security staff stop legal photography (Guardian)

Olympics’ security guards “trained to deter people from taking photographs” (BJP)

Olympic Guards Wrong to stop Photographer, Admits 02 (AP)

Rod Liddle’s Got Issues: CCTV (Sunday Times)

Photography and Hostile Reconnaissance, a guide for BSIA members

The Dead Zone – Philip Wolmuth

Security & the London 2012 Olympics – Grant Smith

Not FIT design © Jason N. Parkinson

On Wednesday 25 April 2012 freelance journalists and broadcasters will enter the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in London, to fight for Judicial Review on the Dale Farm Production Order.

The National Union of Journalists has called the “Not FIT” protest at 9.15am outside the court, to defend journalism and to send a clear message the police – we will not be forced through production orders into being evidence gatherers for the police. ”Not FIT” refers to police evidence gather units known as Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT).

All those involved in the Dale Farm production order case have shown great concern at the increase in the use of production orders against the media over the last 18 months and the fear is journalists are being forced into becoming the eyes and ears of the state. The consequences of this can have serious implications towards the impartiality and safety of journalists in the future.

Please come and show your support in the latest battle for press freedom, to tell the police and the state, we are “Not FIT”.

The protest will be held at 9.15am, Wednesday 25 April 2012.

The Defending Journalism Parliamentary Meeting will be on Thursday 19 April 2012.

Previous posts

NUJ and Broadcasters Granted Judicial Review

Why I’m Resisting the Dale Farm Production Order

Journalists Not Evidence Gatherers

We Are Press Not Police Intelligence

Protecting Journalistic Material

The Politics of Photographing Poverty

We are delighted to have award winning photographer Stuart Freedman and author of Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class, Owen Jones to open a discussion on this subject at our next London Photographers’ Branch meeting. Read the rest of this article »

On Friday 15 July LPB and other photography groups attended a meeting with the Home Office and senior police officers from counter terrorism to discuss guidance for security guards and how effective communication could be established between security industry and photographers. Read the rest of this article »

7th August 2011. Police Evidence Gathering Team in Tottenham during disorder. © Jules Mattsson/LNP

The disorder that swept England recently has calmed, leaving untold destruction, injury and a number of deaths in it’s wake. Lens-based journalists are often in the frontline of these situations to report, receiving aggression from all sides.

Already a number of photographers have been injured and mugged while covering disturbances, radio cars burnt and TV networks have had to pull their crews out of entire areas. The risk to media workers in this sort of situation is massive, especially to those who have to work with visible equipment.

Read the rest of this article »

The government’s reply to the Hargreaves Review on Intellectual Property accepts its main conclusions. Hargreaves was instructed to focus narrowly on the economics of IP and economic growth, and he did ( mostly ) as he was told. So it is no surprise that he has completely ignored demands for the full implementation of moral rights in UK law. The most important of which, for photographers, is the right to our names by our pictures. This omission however does not square with his principal economic innovation, the Digital Copyright Exchange, where ” ownership information is clearly a prerequisite for the marketplace “. Or to put it another way, moral rights are an essential precondition for developing the IP economy. Joined up thinking requires moral rights legislation, now.

Read the rest of this article »

The NUJ have tabled this emergency motion to the TUC congress, to be seconded by the RMT:

NUJ – TUC emergency motion – English Defence League

Congress is appalled at the treatment of NUJ members in East London on Saturday 3 September 2011.

Journalists were carrying out their work, reporting the EDL event, taking photographs and recording eye witness accounts on behalf of a wide range of media outlets.

Journalists were subjected to harassment, threats and abuse including physical assaults, racist abuse and bottles and fireworks being thrown at the press. One journalist was subjected to a sexual assault and another suffered burns after an EDL protestor set the journalist on fire.

Congress publically condemns the actions of the EDL and the ways in which they target media workers and Congress will continue to support all trade unionists that are targeted by the far-right. Read the rest of this article »

Image © Paul Mattsson

Following recent extensive reporting on the Dale Farm Irish Travellers community in Essex and the impending eviction by Basildon Council, branch member Paul Mattsson brought forward a motion to the September LPB branch meeting.

Many members of the branch had been covering Dale Farm and many raised concerns towards some of the reporting of the story, from allegations made in news reports with no basis of fact or evidence, to underhanded and unethical methods of journalism that came nothing short of downright lies. Read the rest of this article »

In this month’s branch meeting we have a panel discussion on alternative models of funding & distribution for visual journalism. Looking at how the landscape of photojournalism & documentary film is changing and moving, and how new technology & tools can help fund, distribute and form projects.

Speaking on the panel:

• Street photographer Nick Turpin, part of the in-public collective. Having successfully published ‘10 years of in-public‘, ‘PUBLICATION’ magazine & recently the documentary film ‘in-sight‘ directly online, Nick will be talking about new ways of content distribution.

• Journalist & editor Olivier Laurent from the British Journal of Photography. Olivier’s written extensively on most new developments in the photographic world and will be talking about crowd-funding, grants & other new models and how he sees them changing the way the industry works.

Our meetings are open to non-members, but the final section will be branch business. The meeting is 6pm-8pm with a social gathering in the pub afterwards.

FB Event (If you’re on facebook, please RSVP as it helps us estimate numbers)

Map

Freelances who work for Archant titles are invited to a meeting at NUJ

HQ to discuss a new agreement issued by the company. It insists on assignment of copyright, and included a clause that transfers the publisher’s full liability to the freelance. We are asking members not to sign.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 27 at Headland House,

308 Gray’s Inn Road, WC1X 8DP, beginning at 6pm.

Any freelance who is affected, or who might be affected, will be made welcome.

Please contact freelanceoffice@nuj.org.uk to let us know you wish to attend.

The London Photographers’ Branch are proud to host a debate with award winning photographers Simon Norfolk and  Territorial Army Sgt Alison Baskerville about propaganda, embedding, censorship, objectivity and art – The Art of War.

Simon’s widely recognised work has spanned from UK fascist groups to some of the worst war zones and refugee camps in the world. In the last ten years his work has focused on the meaning of the word “battlefield”.

Alison recently switched a 13-year career in the military to become a freelance photographer. Having scooped several awards with her previous work Alison has also recently returned from Afghanistan trip embedded with the riflemen in Helmand.

The debate will be at 6pm, on Tuesday 29 November at NUJ Headland House, 308 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8DP. Entry will be on a first come first served basis and seats are limited.

Branch committee member Grant Smith‘s report from attending a Project Griffin Training Day.

Project Griffin training at Wood Street Police Station, 6 October 2011.

Project Griffin was formed in 2004 with constituents from the London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service, City of London Police, Coorporation of London and private security firms deployed in the City. Originally conceived by the City of London Police, it is now a national partnership and has been successfully exported to other countries.

Like many partnerships, it requires one party to be the leading initiator in the process, and in this case it is the City of London Police. Training days are held monthly at Wood Street Police Station. I attended as an observer, on behalf of the NUJ, and as a possible contributor to the training process.

The day began with an introduction to Project Griffin, and it wasn’t long before photography was mentioned, about 15 minutes into the session, and that came with the expression ‘Hostile Reconnaissance or innocent tourism?’ A Special Branch officer gave an overview of the terrorist threat, from both domestic and international organizations as well individuals acting alone. The classification and assessment of the threat levels and the current threat level was addressed. The use of hostile reconnaissance as an important part of planning in a terrorist action was discussed.

In the event of an incident, the role of the security forces as support for the police was raised. This included deployment of security personnel to staff secondary cordons around an incident site, as directed by a police officer. The emphasis was on close working and cooperation with the police at all times. An officer from the Bomb Squad revealed the different types of explosives, their constituent parts, how they may be detonated and the resultant damage. A firearms and weapons officer revealed tactics on how to avoid and minimize injury in a weapons attack.

The last briefing was from an officer from Operation Fairway, an intelligence gathering operation co-ordinated by detectives based within the Counter Terrorism Command unit at New Scotland Yard. The operation’s remit is to detect, deter or disrupt terrorist activity. This involves enlisting additional ‘eyes and ears’ in support of the central government’s attempts to counter the threat, and Project Griffin dovetails neatly with this operation.

Hostile reconnaissance was covered in depth by Operation Fairway, and various types of reconnaissance were revealed. Despite the fact that the officer re-iterated that not all photography is hostile reconnaissance, it is one of the most manifest examples. It is hard not to think that guards leaving the training day will view photographers as potentially more suspicious than any other activity. However if the photographer is paying particular attention to control and security systems, ingress and egress routes, then it is said that a security guard ought to be suspicious, (unless the photographer has been commissioned by a company that supplies security systems).

Other possible indicators of hostile reconnaissance are said to include:

• Making notes (something which photographers may do to record the position of the sun at a particular time of day),

• Observation of security processes, entry points, perimeter barriers and reaction drills (though a photographer may be observing when a building is at its busiest to capture the buzz around the building)
• Repeated walk-bys (again a possible research method used by a photographer to assess how the light falls most favourably on the structure)

The typical response from many photographers when challenged taking photographs is to mention Google Earth and the visual information in that data bank. It was also acknowledged that photography is not the only tactic used in hostile reconnaissance. Furthermore, someone taking photographs is not necessarily to be viewed as suspicious.

It is in this area that leads to some serious misunderstandings between photographers and security guards. It was emphasized that someone who is taking photographs is generally not suspicious, and certainly someone who is co-operative should not be considered as such. Guards were reminded that they had no power to demand deletion of images (if evidence of hostile reconnaissance is required, then this evidence would be vital), nor do they have the power to seize equipment.

Though there is no law preventing photography, once a photographer questions the guards’ insistence that ‘photography is not permitted’, the suspicion of the guard is alerted. Common sense and discretion become rare, and very soon, terrorism and ‘the current climate’ is mentioned as the reason why photography is prohibited. The prohibition on photography becomes more confused and muddled, as happened in Braehead shopping mall last month.

It would also be useful to convince security personnel to treat photographers less suspiciously and with more civility. There is good reason for photographers to do the same.

It seems that nowhere within the training currently are security guards told to stop or report all photography, and yet this continues to happen regularly, perhaps fueled in part by advertising like this?

The recent ‘Stand you Ground’ film highlights the problems photographers often face from security guards.

Note: The BISA (British Security Industry Association) have recently released new guidance in conjunction with the home office on photography & hostile reconnaissance, it can be downloaded here.

photo Jess Hurd/ design Jason Parkinson

7pm, 14th December 2011 at the Queens Head Pub near the NUJ.

66 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NB – Map

Print Exchange

This Christmas we are coming together as a branch in a celebration of our year. Over the last 12 months our members have reported and documented everything from revolutions to civic engagements. Though our commitment to the highest standards of ethical journalism we continue to stand and fight together for the future of photography in the UK and Abroad. To celebrate this last years achievements the branch is running a print exchange at the party. To enter you can either buy raffle tickets on the  night or donate a print to the exchange and get them free. All financial proceeds will be donated to a journalist’s charity to be announced.

If you would like to donate a print for our raffle then please bring it along to the party on the night, otherwise Matt can offer a quality (giclee) A3 print for £12 inc. VAT. Please Email him your image file in the form of a JPEG to matt@matthewaslett.com.

FB Event - Please do RSVP on here if you can!

Look forward to seeing you there! Santa outfit optional

The National Union of Journalists is demanding an apology from Nottinghamshire police after video tape was seized from a student videojournalist covering the ‘Occupy Nottingham’ protests.

Update: Union to complain to IPCC over incident

Film & TV student Lewis Stainer in front of the protest camp. photo © Alan Lodge

From the NUJ Nottingham Branch:

Today, the NUJ has written to Nottinghamshire’s chief constable Julia Hodson calling for the apology to be made in person to 20-year-old Lewis Stainer, a student at New College in Nottingham.

Last Friday he was given back his film after it was seized on Monday 21st November by the police for evidential reasons.  Lewis had been filming in the old Market Square for his course project when police made four arrests at the Occupy Nottingham camp. Subsequently two people were charged with offences.

National officials of the NUJ have also decided today to give Lewis Stainer legal support while the union’s legal officers carry out a full investigation into the incident. Lewis who’s studying a BTEC in TV and Film says he wants an apology as well as compensation for the stress and  inconvenience he experienced in having his coursework seized.

The union is increasingly unhappy at the number of problems involving photographers across the country.

Diana Peasey, chair of the Nottingham NUJ branch said ‘we know photographers are under increasing pressure here. They’re often told they can’t photograph crime scenes or face having their camera or material seized by police under section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. It is done all too frequently.’

‘We have our own Police and Media guidelines which the NUJ negotiated with the Nottinghamshire police. Section 7 says specifically:

‘Police officers do not have the authority to prevent a person taking a photograph or to confiscate cameras or film and such conduct could result in criminal, civil, or disciplinary act.’

Ms Peasey said “It is clear that the PACE legislation is overriding the Media guidelines and we need to toughen them up to ensure that the police understand they cannot intimidate photographers and journalists at crime scenes or major incidents.”

Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire Constabulary’s Complaints and Misconduct unit is also looking into the incident.

Diana Peasey, chair, Nottingham NUJ branch.

Material ‘acquired or created for the purposes of journalism’ is Special Procedure and protected from seizure in this way under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The London Photographers Branch is strongly against the use of journalistic material as evidence.

Members approached by the police for your material you should contact the NUJ immediately. During office hours you can contact the NUJ Legal Department on 020 7843 3721. If you urgently need help you call the 24hr NUJ emergency legal helpline on 0800 5877530.

Additional coverage: BBC, ITV, Indymedia, Further on Indymedia, HTFP

LPB Posts on Seizure of Material:

Journalists not Evidence Gatherers

We Are Press Not Police Intelligence

Protecting Journalistic Material

Police officers block Jules's camera, dislodging a lens hood, during the incident. photo Jules Mattsson

The London Photographers’ Branch congratulates its member Jules Mattsson in winning his case against the actions of the Met police when he was covering an Armed Forces Day parade in Romford last year. Jules kept calm, recorded the incident and argued for his rights in an intimidating encounter with the police. During the encounter he was abused, assaulted and threatened under the Terrorism Act and falsely imprisoned. Jules was 15 at the time and a student but had the support of branch officials at the scene and the national union in successfully pursuing justice with the help of leading civil rights solicitor and friend of the NUJ, Chez Cotton.

NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff said:

“This was very poor and unlawful behaviour by a senior police officer, trying to intimidate a young NUJ photographer. It is not acceptable conduct, has no place in the police force and is hardly likely to gain respect for the police amongst the youth of the UK. The police have now recognised this, apologised and compensated our member. The NUJ will continue to hold the police to account to ensure that the vital rights of journalists, enshrined in law, are upheld, to enable reporting and photographing to continue, as part of the democratic framework of our society.”

Read the full Bindmans statement:

Met Commissioner compensates journalist arrested for taking photographs in public place and told to stop “running round acting silly, being stupid and gay”

Tomorrow morning, Tuesday 13 December 2011, I will head to Chelmsford Crown Court to oppose a production order application by Essex Police to seize all my footage from the Dale Farm eviction.

The production order, calling for all footage shot on 19 and 20 October, is also being served upon other news outlets.

I am resisting the order with the full support on the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and legal support from Bindmans Solicitors. The handing over of material, either published or unpublished goes against the NUJ Code of Conduct. Read the rest of this article »

The Tuesday 31 January 2012 London Photographers’ Branch meeting will host two important events.

First, it is the LPB AGM* where we elect our committee members & discuss the work of the branch for the coming year.

With the prospect of tighter restrictions resulting from the Leveson Inquiry, we will also be having an introduction by Paris based photographer Nigel Dickinson about the impact of Privacy Law on photography in France. Read the rest of this article »

Newspaper and magazine publisher Archant, with profits of over £2.6 million, has announced a major new initiative aimed at encouraging its readers to submit photos for publication and syndication.  Their iwitness24 scheme is described as giving ”users the chance to share their news, photos and videos”, and appears to be offering contributors the opportunity to profit from an international syndication scheme. Read the rest of this article »

Nominations for the the remaining Casual Vacancies on the National Executive Council (NEC), Ethic Council, Industrial and Executive Councils are to be in taken by end-of business on Friday 27 January 2012. These voluntary committee positions are for two years starting from January 2012. Each position is one seat unless otherwise stated.

Please contact joint secretary Jason N. Parkinson is you are interested in being nominated for a position.

The vacancies are as follows: Read the rest of this article »

Tuesday 31 January 2012, 6pm at Headland House will host the third NUJ London Photographers’ Branch Annual Delegate Meeting. We will also be holding branch nominations for the new National Executive Position (NEC) Photographers’ Seat and we will be passing an important motion on the Leveson Inquiry, calling for a nation wide UK Press Card Code of Conduct.

In the first part of the meeting we are very privileged to have Nigel Dickinson travelling over from Paris to discuss privacy law in France and its effect on photography and reporting. We also have the NUJ Senior Campaigns and Communications Officer Sarah Kavanagh, taking time out of her busy schedule to talk to the branch about what the union has being doing about the Leveson Inquiry. With the NUJ being a core participant, Sarah has been working with Michelle Stanistreet and can fill us in on the latest developments and what we can expect next. Read the rest of this article »

Our meeting tomorrow will mark two years since the start of the London Photographers’ Branch. It has been a packed year, the highlights of which you can read in the Chair’s Annual Report 2011. We invite you all to come along and take part in the Annual General Meeting which will precede the normal monthly branch meeting with a speakers on the Leveson Enquiry and the prospect of French-style Privacy Law – details here

6pm sharp – NUJ Headland House – drinks and nibbles provided.

We will elect a new committee and two branch auditors. Any member is entitled to stand for committee, however to hold a post as branch officer you have to be a full member. Read the rest of this article »

Letter to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
cc’d Mayors Office & City Hall Press Office

Dear Sir

The National Union of Journalists, London Photographers’ Branch notes with great concern the proposed introduction of new byelaws covering Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square. We are specifically concerned with the restrictions on press photography in these areas without prior written consent:

“Acts within the Square for which written permission is required: take photographs or film or make any other recordings of visual images for the purpose of or in connection with a business, trade, profession or employment or any activity carried on by a person or body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate.” Read the rest of this article »

Mohamed Al Fayed leaves the inquiry into the death of Princess Diana. © Carmen Valino

On Tuesday 31 January the London Photographers’ Branch (LPB) passed the following motion.

“Following hostile criticism of press photographers at the Leveson inquiry, this branch calls on the General Secretary to draw the attention of the Inquiry to the NUJ code of conduct, and recommends that a common Code of Conduct drawing from the NUJ and other codes is adopted by all holders of a UKPCA national press card.”

As the NUJ has core participant status, General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet has written to all members inviting them to confidentially put forward their views and experiences to be submitted to Leveson.

Tell Michelle your experiences for the Leveson Inquiry

Related Articles

Ethics and Murdoch by Andrew Wiard

How can we make the media fair for all?

Date Sat, 17 Mar 2012

Time to from 10:00 to 16:00

Location Congress House, London WC1B 3LS

Cost £10 registration fee, £6 unwaged, includes refreshments and a sandwich lunch.
Register online now for £10 + £1.25 booking fee, £6 + £0.80 for unwaged, or pay by cheque for £10, or £6 unwaged. Read the rest of this article »

The NUJ is planning an event at TUC women’s conference this year entitled Where are all the Women? Sexism in the media industry – Organising the fightback.

The event will take place on Wednesday 14 March at TUC Congress House in London starting at 7pm. The venue address and map are here

All are welcome – so please feel free to invite others and promote the event to people you know.

RSVP: campaigns@nuj.org.uk

Here is the event leaflet – download leaflet

Join us on Tuesday 28 February for a joint event with the NUJ Press and Public Relations Branch to discuss photography and PR. From practical best practice in commissioning and giving briefs, to more ethical questions about “constructing reality” we’ll debate and share experiences from both PRs and photographers. Guest speakers working in PR and professional photographers will set the scene before opening up for debate and networking.

6.00-8.00pm Tuesday 28 February NUJ, 308-312 Gray’s Inn Road, London Debate followed by networking and refreshments.

Facebook Event

Enter Dale Farm: A riot police officer points a taser gun

Following the case that lasted several months spanning 2011 and 2012 at Chelmsford Crown Court and the subsequent ruling against those involved, I can now report the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has submitted an appeal to challenge the production order forcing journalists, media organisations and broadcasters to submit all their footage to the police.

The legal challenge is in response to a court decision requiring those involved to comply with the production order and hand over all footage gathered over the first two days of the Dale Farm eviction to Essex police.

In today’s press release those applying for appeal in addition to myself are the BBC, ITN, BskyB, Hardcash Productions. Read the rest of this article »

On Friday afternoon, 16 March 2012, we received conformation that the application for judicial review on the Dale Farm production was accepted by the High Court.

Following the October 2011 eviction police served production orders on all professional camera teams that covered the operation at the Dale Farm Irish Travellers site at Cray’s Hill in Essex. The court orders were to deliver all the footage shot over two days. Read the rest of this article »

The NUJ Freelance office and London Freelance Branch has arranged a meeting with representatives from the Met police to brief journalists on arrangements for covering the Olympics. Read the rest of this article »

This month’s branch meeting returns to Tips of the Trade, this time multimedia with Chryssa Panoussiadou, Lewis Whyld and Emma Dow.

Chryssa Panoussiadou is a photographer and a filmmaker based in London. She has a strong background in editorial photography and TV news production.  From 2000 and for five years she was based in Jerusalem working in Israel and the Palestinian Territories as a freelance photographer for Panos Pictures. Chryssa currently directs, produces and edits news and documentary films while photographing for various international clients. She holds an MA in Documentary Research for Film and TV (University of the Arts London).

Lewis Whyld is a Photojournalist for the Press Association. He recently won the P.A Video Journalist of the Year Award for films in which he combines photography and video.

Emma Dow is the features picture editor for the Daily Telegraph.

FACEBOOK EVENT

Last week I spoke at  Where are all the Women? How to beat Sexism in the Media, a fringe event at the TUC Womens’ Conference.

In the run-up to the meeting I spoke to many of my colleagues, men and women about the topic. To be honest I was horrified by the accounts from my female colleagues about the day-to-day sexism they face.

Women are massively under represented in our industry with lower pay, less shifts, less staff positions, less security. They face discrimination for the type of work they do and are bullied and harassed by some of their male colleagues.

Read the NUJ conference report and listen to the podcast here

We plan to have a meet-up of female colleagues to talk about the issues and how they can be addressed this Friday 30th March – 7pm upstairs at the Bloomsbury Tavern.

Please email jess@jesshurd.com if you are planning to attend (for bar snack numbers)

UPDATE

The opertaion on Marios Lolos fractured skull was successful. The minute he woke up he wanted to meet all the colleagues that had been waiting for him. He is overwhelmed by all the support, and going to spend a few days recovering in hospital.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Greek photographer Marios Lolos, President of Press-Photographers Union of Greece is undergoing brain surgery after reportedly being beaten by riot police in Athens yesterday. We wish to extend our union branch’s solidarity and best wishes.

Journalists have every right to gather news without being subjected to intimidation and violence. The targeting of journalists is completely unacceptable and the police officers responsible should be brought to justice. Read the rest of this article »

We always struggle to find the right questions to ask. if we get the right ones, usually answers rapidly become apparent. I assume none of us are sclerotic Luddites and consequently, there is unity in embracing technological change. In many ways, digitalisation of the machinery most of us use is of contradictory benefit: modern cameras are mostly heavier than film ones, electricity is now required on location, instant initial editing is possible and rapid transmission of images is common. Another result of change is that we pass through airports with greater security for the work we’ve done because it’s no longer with us. Read the rest of this article »

The positions below are the casual vacancies for the remaining seats on the Ethics Council, Industrial and Executive Councils. All these committees are for two years starting from January 2012.

The deadline for nominations is the close of business (COB), on Friday, 18^th May 2012. Read the rest of this article »

Meeting: The Politics of Photographing Poverty

Defending Journalism – Judicial Review

Defending Journalism: Parliamentary Discussion

Greek photographer hospitalised by police

In Defence of Photography

Sexism in the Media – Report & Podcast

Public Order & Women’s Safety at Work Tip Sheets

Meeting: The Politics of Photographing Poverty

Defending Journalism – Judicial Review

Defending Journalism: Parliamentary Discussion

Greek photographer hospitalised by police

In Defence of Photography

Sexism in the Media – Report & Podcast

Public Order & Women’s Safety at Work Tip Sheets